dear irapuato,

Thank you.

Thank you, for offering tacos at 3 in the morning and for all your spicy salsas that I kept eating despite how much my mouth burned. Thank you, for your crazy temperamental weather that matched my own moods.

Thank you, for being the destination of my exchange, but also the point of departure for me to learn more about our world, to meet people from around the world.

You have the kindest people here, even if none of them believe me when I tell them “Soy de Canadá… pero mis papas son de China” (I got pretty good at saying that).

Yo, mi hermana, y mi mama. Falta mi dos hermanos.

You have a family here who was willing to take me in for 6 weeks, to feed me, drive me to work, take me out for dinner and road trips with their extended family, and stay up to open the door for me on those late nights out.

Volunteers of AIESEC, INMIRA, and part of the volunteers for the other project

You have a group of youth, called AIESECers, who are so passionate about the world and about providing a quality leadership development experience for us. I will never forget their kindness and eagerness to help me, to make sure I felt at home. I can’t wait to see them grow and do even more for this city.

Launching our campaign “Valórate Mujer” on July 12, 2017.

You have an amazing organisation called INMIRA (Instituto para las mujeres irapuatenses) that provides women of all social backgrounds with support to be independent, to get away from violent situations, to start their own businesses.

Thank you, for being my home for the last 6 weeks.